I have heard a lot about low carb and never really tried it, but I have been thinking about becoming a low carb eatter. I was wondering, I read the home page and it said something about starting out with 20grams of carbs, is that right? If not, then how many grams should I eat? 1 more question, is there a page on this site that will tell me the goods to eat, and the bads to avoid? If not, is there a site that ya'll would recommend? Thank-you so much for all your help!!

Welcome, Tina.

The absolute best advice I can give you is to pick a low carb plan and then get the book that goes with it.

It's very important to get some insight into why low carbing works, and to have a "road map" at the ready as you start your journey.

Hope you'll make yourself at home.

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Hi Tina, Welcome to LCE,

You will find a wealth of information here, along with a lot of support, but Maggie is right, once you've decided on a plan, getting the book and reading it is the next step. Understanding the plan is very important in order to succeed on your LC journey.

Best of luck!

Welcome Tina! I have found the books to be invaluable to me learning about how low carbing works. I read them constantly. But you came to the right place. This forum has tons of articles, success stories (are awesome motivators!), wonderful tasty recipes and lots of other perks that you will soon discover if you spend any time here. Good luck and hope you do good!

katlupe

Welcome, Tina!

Yes, you need to choose a plan, buy or borrow the book, and read it so you understand how to make this a way of eating, not just a diet.

Wishing you much success!

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Nita

thank you all!!

Welcome, Tina.

Everybody encourages you to start with a plan because different plans have different requirements, and it helps to have a roadmap along the way as you have already noticed. If you have a good understanding of how it works and what to expect, it's much easier to navigate the completely normal ups and downs and various situations that come up in your personal program.

The 20 grams of carbs per day figure is from Atkins, which is one of the most popular and well known low carb plans, where carbs are figured as total carbs minus grams of fiber (for "net" or "effective" carb count). This phase, also known as Induction, lasts 2 weeks before you start upping the amounts systemmatically until you learn at what levels you personally lose weight vs. maintain.

For an overview of what one eats on LC - So what can I eat on a low carb diet? | LowCarbEating

A general explaination of LC - Low Carb Diet 101 | LowCarbEating

The biggest change for most people is cutting sugar out of their diets. LC usually avoid all sugar, and most flour products, and instead eat plenty of veggies and protein. Most LCers don't worry about fats in foods, although some do. Experienced LCers usually are wary of specialty LC foods, as many can create problems and eating whole, natural foods tends to yeild the best results.

And the most successful LCers tend to start with an established plan, and over time, learn what works for them and what doesn't.

Hope that gets you pointed in the right direction. Good luck!

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